THE TROTTING DEAD Volume 1
by Chaos Princess Cyclone
Summary: Princess Sugarcube, one of the newest princesses around, is caught in the middle of the Zompony Appocalypse. Being in the middle of Canterlot where the majority of ponies are unicorns and pegasi doesn't help either. But the Zompony battle of Canterlot has just begun.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

All was well in Canterlot. Princess Sugarcube, visiting from a small kingdom next to Horseshoe Bay, was living it up. Everypony in Central Equestria had grown tired of Cadence and Twilight, and needed a new princess to look up to, besides their co-rulers, Princess Luna and Celestia. Now she relaxed in the guest bedroom of the Great Castle of the two sisters, sipping tea with three sugar cubes, using her magical horn. Although her coat was purple and her mane was pink, her magical aura was golden.

Classical music played from a radio, sending Princess Sugarcube into a deep sleep, her sugary tea on the table next to her luxurious purple bed.

. . .

A soft groan penetrated through Princess Sugarcube's door. "Who is it?" she called, still in bed. When no reply came, she decided it was just in her head. Wait…there it was again! Who would dare interrupt such a raving celebrity at this hour, not to mention twice? Aggravated, she hopped out of bed. But before addressing this obnoxious subject of Canterlot, she decided to further perfect her mane. The purple, winding mane of Princess Sugarcube was never matted, never dull, never tangled. Yet princesses should always strive for a mane fitting the alicorn they are.

Once she had finished combing through it and bouncing it back to curls, Princess Sugarcube turned towards the large door of the bedroom. Her eyes narrowed, and she was ready to confront the grunting, groaning pony behind the door. _Stop it,_ she scolded herself. _Princesses are understanding, forgiving ponies. Maybe the whole thing was a misunderstanding__. _Princess Sugarcube held her pale purple hoof to her chest, then straightened it out and counted to ten. She had learned this method from her less popular princess friend, Cadence.

Finally, Princess Sugarcube trotted to the door. The groaning and moaning and grunting had started up yet again. Then she stared in horror when she opened the door. There, standing in front of her, was the source of the sound. A green alicorn with halfrotten flesh stood there, her cutiemark the great big sun of Princess Celestia.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Princess Sugarcube screamed in horror, then slammed the door shut using her magical horn. She practically rammed into the window before, once again, using her magic to send it up.

Just then, Princess Celestia the Zompony sent the great doors of Princess Sugarcube's suite flying open. More moans dragged on from her. Princess Sugarcube didn't realize she was standing still until she was less than a yard away.

Princess Sugarcube flew out of the window with such speed even Rainbow Dash would be impressed. Big. Mistake.

Ponies of every race swarmed the castle and skies, making Princess Sugarcube shutter_. Of_ _course_, she thought._ Canterlot is the top city on the map. There will be too many Zomponies to outsmart or outrun._

Princess Sugarcube soared as high as she dared, in fear of not getting oxygen, and overlooked the city. She was trying to find survivors. THERE! A young little filly and her mother crept around the once elegant streets, which were now coated in dust and blood.

Even if they wouldn't be helpful allies in the wake of the Trotting Dead, she had to help them to the best of her ability. Princess Sugarcube dived down, aiming for the weak duo earth ponies on the ground.

Little did she know, a Pegasus with a light blue coat and a striking rainbow mane had suspected this. Her cannibal teeth tore into Princess Sugarcube's flesh, brainwashed by the Zompony disease, before gliding down to feast on the earth ponies below.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"S, can you light up the room? My magic feels drained," Rainbow Jewel groaned. They were in an underground bunker, dimly lit by torches in the distance. RJ and I had just fought off a wave of Zomponies in the streets of Ponyville with our chaos magic, leaving us exhausted and our magic weakened for the time being.

"Sure," said S, who had remained inside due to her kind heart. Selene Star, my other sister, was too soft to fight, battle and kill Zomponies who were once gentle citizens of Equestria. She could let out some chaos magic if needed, but she preferred to tend to the wounded and attempt to cure to the disease that started up the Zompony Apocalypse.

Hours went by, then days. It seemed like each day were the same, blended into one giant mass of horror and hiding. The Zompony Uprising was a mysterious yet sudden disaster that struck Equestria all at once. Before the rotten-fleshed ponies made the majority of Equestria's population, wide-eyed ponies whispered about another royal princess, Princess Sugarcube's disappearance. She had been staying at the castle in Canterlot. Since Canterlot had been infected, no royals, servants or commoners have contacted the outside world of Equestria.

"Do you think we'll live?" I asked. S looked downward and dug her hoof into the dirt.

RJ didn't do the same thing. "Of course we'll live, Cyclone! You've got hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms…you name it. S can heal anything, and, even without strong chaos magic, can take a DRAGON head-on!" RJ looked confident, jutting her nose upward and standing tall. "Plus, you two've got me, the awesomest pony around, not to mention top fighter of Equestria!" Rainbow Jewel shouted triumphantly.

I blushed, then, seeing as I had become vulnerable, I steeled myself, having a straight, level poker face. Then, remembering these were my sisters and friends, I became loose. Just a little.

"But can you be sure?" I replied. "I mean, I don't doubt for a second what you said, RJ. But, can you be sure the Zomponies don't eat us in our sleep? Or that we just can't beat the whole race of them? I'm scared, RJ. I can't be the tough girl around you guys all the time."

RJ now, too, glared at the ground, pawing the Earth. Now S spoke. "I find logic in hoping for the best. Seeing only the negative aspects of any situation can cause you to miss opportunities, neglect problems that need to be solved, and-"

"OK, OK, we get it. I should be more optimistic, although it's kind of hard to do that with flesh-eating Zomponies walking above us, sniffing out survivors," I said sarcastically. S gave me a stare she had picked up from Fluttershy. "OK, I'm serious," I added. "I'll be more optimistic from now on."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a muffled voice shouted from above ground. My sisters and I looked upwards, startled by the blood-curdling scream from above.

"We have to help that lady!" S said. She whipped out a magic book she had stolen from a Zompony infested house last week. No one questioned S being up there with RJ and I. She could handle herself.

It wasn't rejection, but RJ laid out something serious. "What if this pony already got eaten? We go up there to save her, she's already one of them, and just joins her new kind to kill us? We'd have to rely on pure luck to pull this off, even with regular magic, chaos magic, alicorn magic, AND flying."

She was right. But if we played along stealthily, we may be able to bring this mare back down under to our bunker without fighting off too many Zomponies. And then maybe S could heal her from any scratches or wounds. I shared my idea.

"It's just crazy enough to actually work!" exclaimed S.

S flew open the cap on the long tube that led upward. It was designed so that only trained pegasi (and alicorns) could get back up after falling down. S and I had designed it that way, so that if we ever had to flee our bunker from Zomponies being in there, we could leave the earth ponies and unicorn Zomponies in there, then close the cap so that not even pegasi could come out. We were kinda sorta GENIUSES!

We all flew up scanning the area. No Zomponies. We all found this dangerously strange. Where had they all gone? Then, the scream went through the area again. It sounded familiar. We followed the sound trail, and soon found all of the Zomponies. And Pinkie Pie.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I gawked in disbelief, since I had great reason to believe that all of the six friends had been dead, or Zomponies. As far as we knew, Twilight had created the disease from mixing plants in the Everfree Forest with Timber Wolf essence. She was the first Zompony. Rainbow Dash had been bitten, believing that Zompony pegasi could not fly and reach her resting in Cloudsdale. She was one of the scariest Zomponies, considering how fast she was in life. We were never sure if Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, RJ's and S's adoption mother, were still safe from the virus. But here Pinkie stood. But not for long.

"HHHHEEERRREEE! ALL YOU ZOMPONIES NEED TO GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND AWAY FROM THAT WEAKLING, EASY MEAL. IF YOU EAT US, YOU'LL BE WELLFED FOR DAYS!" coaxed RJ. It was a bit offensive to Pinkie Pie, but it did the trick and snapped S and I back into reality. The Zomponies began their leisurely trot towards us. Mouths watering.

Pinkie Pie looked very grateful, yet torn up with several scratch marks over her once-pink mane. It was now covered in blood and dirt, as if she'd been scavenging for food and fighting off Zomponies and starvation bare-hoofed. I thought of how much easier we had it than earth ponies in the Apocalypse. Poor Pinkie.

My mind snapped back into the present – again – and I realized how close they were getting. "It's time to get dirty!" I shouted with glee. I loved combat. A sly grin slipped across my face.

My magical aura was metallic blue, and I was the only recorded unicorn or alicorn to have that color. I made my horn glow, and a swirling tornado began above my horn. The large, grey twirl became deadlier every moment. I saw that RJ begun an at LEAST level 10 earthquake, sending the Zomponies into panic and making them run in circles, avoiding the cracks in the earth. I was jealous of her fighting skills, but I was certain I could show her up. Finally! My vortex was finished, and I was SSSOOOO very ready to release it. And I did.

Zomponies remaining unharmed above the surface were instantly swept into the blotches of the earth, and the rest swallowed whole in my Tornado of Doom (as I called it, for it was the most powerful of its kind). I shot a glance at RJ, and was relieved that she was utterly impressed as she was staring at the mass destruction I created with her jaw dropped more than two inches lower than it should be. YES!

"Great moves, Cyclone. _Cyclone. _Cy. Sick. I'll call you Sick. The _si_ sound from Cyclone, which matches up with your SICK moves. Don't you like it, S?" said RJ. S nodded, smiling.

Then I remembered. "PPPIIINNNKKKIIIIEEE!" I screamed, my eyes examining the broken streets.

"I'm right here!" she said in a raspy voice. Pinkie looked cheerful, but her voice was so depressing.

S must have noticed this. "Maybe I have some herbs that can help your throat in the bunker."

"You – You guys have a bunker?" Pinkie's eyes looked hopeful. I realized that this whole time she had been living in the streets. No allies. No sense of security while sleeping or roaming around.

"Yeah. S, Sick and I built it out of metal parts we found in a garage. When it comes to these conditions, there's no such thing as stealing," RJ injected. I don't think Rainbow deciphered Pinkie's former predicament. I sighed. RJ wasn't ever the sensitive type, anyways. I knew this even though I didn't know either S or RJ until the Pony Uprising against Twilight and Celestia.

It was a pretty awkward walk back, considering Pinkie did not have a spring in her step, RJ did not fly above us, twirling and bragging, and, actually, S _was_ staying quiet, like she usually did. I guess being around a former friend of Twilight, who went crazy before accidentally killing herself, had that affect. But so was – MOM!

Tears burst out, and I dealt with my mom being not only drained of her power from Twilight during the Uprising, but a Zompony who was responsible for most ponies being infected. The others had never seen me cry, not even during Rainbow Dash's (my mom's) funeral march.

S seemed concerned but knew I was about to explode. RJ didn't know. "Hey, Sick. What's wrong?" she said.

I responded with a burst of energy. My Tornado of Doom made a reappearance. Grey, depressing dust and water revolved around me like a whirlpool, growing stronger and larger with each of my tears. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" I wailed with such ferocity that the remaining ground of Ponyville trembled. This was chaos magic at its finest.

"SICK! YOU HAVE TO CALM DOWN! WE'LL MISS RD TOO, EVEN IF HER NAME WAS TOO SIMILAR TO MINE! SHE WAS THE BEST TRAINER WE COULD HAVE EVER HAD!" RJ screamed, trying to overcome the loudness of my freak weather. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO HAS SUFFERED A LOST! THINK ABOUT DISCORD!"

The twister ceased. I had never really known Discord well enough to break down and cry during the news of his death. But the understanding that the others have felt this way before yet handle it better made me steel myself. I can't act like an out of control wimp. Although out of control does mean chaos, there are better ways to show my strength. Like in battle, not saddening moments.

"Cyclone – er, Sick. Why don't you take a nap? We'll scavenge the bunker for remaining tools," exclaimed S.

I must have seemed like a dummy, for my lips were a centimeter apart, and I was staring into space. Then I remembered what I was looking like that for. "_Scavenge? _Why would we have to scavenge for anything in our bunker? Unless – "

"Rainbow Jewel's earthquake collapsed the bunker," Pinkie said. "We discovered the bunker was ruined while you were making hot and cold air swirl around each other, thus forming a tornado." We all stared at Pinkie Pie, for I and neither S or RJ had ever heard Pinkie talk so… sophisticated. Did the Zompony Apocalypse corrupt Pinkie's happiness? Did depression deepen her voice and make it raspy?

Either way, we'd have to grab the necessities, pack up, and search for a new shelter in the Zompony infested streets.


End file.
